Now that quarterback Peyton Manning has covered his throwing hand in a glove, all the crucial make-or-break truths about the Broncos can finally be revealed.

The mystery of how this Denver season will end? It’s in the glove.

The glove represents it’s time to evolve as a team, during a time of lousy weather, and, if this time, the Broncos really are built to win a championship.

The Broncos are winterizing their team for the long road to the Super Bowl.

“I do think that we want to emphasize running the football from this point on,” Manning said Wednesday.

Why?

“A) When you get into possibly a weather situation when it’s not ideal to throw it all over the field, and B) I think it helps our team,” Manning said. “It provides some balance for our offensive line (against) a team who’s not just pinning their ears back, rushing the passer every single play, if they have to honor the run.”

Manning wore gloves when Denver knocked Kansas City from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday night. The cold, hard facts most noteworthy from the victory: Denver ran the ball 69 percent of the time on first down, and its 36 rushing attempts were a season high. The transformation to a team that can win more than one way in the playoffs is underway.

“It runs a little more time on the clock, possibly, and maybe doesn’t allow you to score as many points,” Manning said. “But if it allows you to possess the football and win the football game, then that’s what we have to do.”

All the gaudy passing statistics posted by Manning at age 37 are buzz-worthy. All anybody wants to talk about this week is his rivalry with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. But what’s really worth talking about is if the Broncos have learned what it takes to win the Super Bowl since their last trip to New England, when they got blitzed 31-21 on Oct. 7, 2012.

Since their last unhappy return from New England, the Broncos have won 20 of 22 games.

And they haven’t proved a darn thing.

Yes, Denver has established itself as the prohibitive favorite to win the AFC championship, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Yes, when the Broncos operate their offense at peak video-game efficiency, Manning is harder to stop than Desmond Miles from “Assassin’s Creed.”

But do we truly know how Denver will fare when the stakes grow higher, the weather grows colder and the opposing teams grow nastier?

No.

When the glove goes on Manning’s right hand, it indicates the time for the gloves to come off in NFL competition. The road to the Super Bowl is littered with losers of bare-knuckled brawls.

The uniformed myth about Manning reads like this: He can’t play quarterback in the cold. Critics cite his 9-10 record when the temperature dips below 40 degrees, ignoring the fact Manning’s quarterback rating in those games registers solidly above 100.

This much, however, I believe is true: The teams that employ Manning haven’t been built particularly well to get down and dirty. From Indianapolis to Denver, from receivers Marvin Harrison to Demaryius Thomas, the offense looks sweeter when basking in the sunshine. From Dwight Freeney to Von Miller, the speed rushers who have worked with Manning are built for fast tracks rather than snow and muck.

A long, brutal NFL season slowly beats the beauty out of football. The blur that was the Denver offense on Labor Day becomes slow enough to catch by Thanksgiving. Slot receiver Wes Welker gets his bell rung. Tight end Julius Thomas has his knee bent in a way God never intended. Manning’s aching right ankle is taped until it begins to resemble the Great Pumpkin.

If you trust the weatherman, when Denver takes the field against New England on Sunday night, the wind speed on the artificial surface of Gillette Stadium might be higher than the temperature, with both readings in the bone-chilling 20s.

“It seems like I sure do go there a lot, out to Foxborough. I don’t know how that always works. I guess it’s always random, they say, but it’s strange how that works out,” said Manning, laughing.

As a member of the Colts and Broncos, eight of Manning’s 13 storied showdowns against Brady have been staged at New England. Manning’s record in those eight games is 2-6, including a 20-3 playoff loss on a snowy day in January 2005, during which he suffered four sacks and four interceptions and has never looked more miserable on an NFL field.

While it’s easy to be dazzled as Denver attempts to become the first team in league history to score 600 points during the regular season, what’s worth watching down the stretch is how the Broncos can evolve their awesome finesse into something with a harder edge, and become a team more suited to playoff success.

More in Sports

BOULDER — Six teammates who had celebrated with Rashaan Salaam through some of the highest points reached by the Colorado football program more than two decades ago trudged through the snow Friday to deliver their friend to his final resting place. They pulled the the wooden casket out of the hearse and placed it on the frozen ground and placed it...

It was expected to be a showcase for NCAA hockey … and it lived up to the billing. On the opening night of a rare regular-season two-game matchup of the top two teams in the national rankings, the No. 2 Denver Pioneers got a goal and two assists from forward Troy Terry and knocked off No. 1 Minnesota Duluth 4-3...